Published at 09:25, Wednesday, 13 January 2016
Plans have been lodged to build seven houses on a bowling green behind an historic pub.
Punch Taverns, which owns the Redfern Inn, on Kingmoor Road, Belah, Carlisle, has applied to build five three-bedroom houses and two four-bedroom houses behind the Grade II listed building on its disused green.
The new development would be built on about two thirds of the bowling green, leaving the other third for pub goers to use.
The planning application states that the development will benefit the owner and tenant of the Redfern Inn by providing a more cost-effective property in terms of maintenance and operation.
Graham Hitchen, owner of Graham Hitchen Associates, has been working on the plans for the houses with architects. He said that the development was a good way for Punch Taverns to make reliable money at a pub which has opened and closed a number of times over the past few years.
Mr Hitchen said: “This is a way of trying to achieve a happy medium of generating some funds for the property owners and the land.
“There’s another benefit for the area because it is high profile the lack of development across the country – this is a way of contributing to supply in an area that’s already residential.”
The Redfern Inn was designed by Joseph Seddon in collaboration with Henry Redfern as part of the city’s famous State Management Scheme.
It was built in 1939 and named after Mr Redfern because it was one of the final public houses he designed.
Bowling greens were a feature of many Redfern pubs as part of efforts to include people to take part in other activities rather than simply drink.
The pub and adjoining bowling green was recently successfully registered a community asset by the Solway branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).
In anticipation of any problems arising from this, the application states: “Development of part of the disused bowling green will have no impact on continued use of the Redfern Inn as a public house. In this respect, the public house will remain and the proposed residential development will not detract from its use for the purposes referred to in the community groups reasons why the Redfern Inn is a community asset.”
However, Mike Tuer, the pubs campaign co-ordinator of Solway CAMRA, is concerned that if the bowling green goes, the pub will ultimately fail. He wants the green to be brought back into use, arguing that it could be a great asset to the pub.
Mr Tuer said: “We consider this an important house in the history of Carlisle and the bowling green is instrumental to that pub.”
He added that the development is an “extreme concern” and is encouraging members of CAMRA and others to object to the plans.
The potential site is also part of the Stanwix Conservation Are.
The consultation is open until Monday, January 25.
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk